Speak
by Orchid Butterflies
Summary: He only wanted to hear him speak. He didn't expect to fall in love. Axel/Roxas, Cloud/Leon and Zexion/Demyx if you squint AU One-shot


**A/N:** Ho'shit. I believe this doesn't fall under 'drabble' category. (Everyone 'Oooo' and 'Ahhh' with me on three...!) I came up with the idea of this in theatre class the other day, and I really liked it. So, I won't take up anymore of your time. Read it! XD

**Disclaimer:** And as the chances of me ever becoming world famous, and as rich as Bill Gates, are _very, very_ slim to none, I will never own these characters. And, no profit is made from the writing of this fanfic.

**Dedication:** To... everyone? Yeah, that works. Oh! And to my betas and the people I worship. Always them.

* * *

_Today, I met someone._

He hadn't been able to take his eyes off the blonde-haired boy since he had walked into the classroom. There was something different about him, something that made him stand out so much more than the nameless others he was surrounded by, but Axel couldn't quite place it. Was is the boy's hair? No, it couldn't be. Unlike Axel's bright red hair, the boy's spiky blonde hair blended in perfectly with the island's colours of green and yellow and blue. Perhaps it was his clothing? Axel decided that wasn't it either. The style the boy wore didn't seem the least bit out of place in this setting. Then it hit him.

It was his eyes.

They were so... dead.

_His name's Roxas._

He couldn't get the blonde out of his head. The way his eyes were so entirely lifeless. The fake smile he plastered on. The almost careless way he dressed. How his name kept repeating in his mind. And, most of all, how the blonde hadn't said a single word. Not even when Axel brazenly introduced himself to the group of friends surrounding the boy. And all he could do was silently tell himself, behind his cheerful façade, that there just _had_ to be a reason the boy wouldn't speak.

And there was.

But Roxas wasn't about to admit it.

_He hasn't said a single word since he was thirteen._

Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, as Axel slowly wormed his way into the hearts of the boy and his friends. Like a fire, his actions were completely unpredictable. Some days, he would chatter away endlessly about his old town. He weaved comedic stories about the adventures him and his friends back home would experience – how Vexen would constantly insist he would be the first to invent a 'male pregnancy' potion and whatnot; how he had accidentally set the chemistry lab on fire when they had been testing flames; how Zexion once attacked a girl named Larxene in a jealous rage, simply because she had been hitting on Demyx. Everyone would smile and laugh at his words. Everyone except the blonde boy, who would put on another false smile. But Axel wouldn't be stopped so easily. He touched Roxas every chance he got, let it be casually holding his small hand, lacing their fingers together, or slinging his arm around the smaller one's shoulders. And once, when no one was looking, he planted a simple, chaste kiss on the blonde's cheek. Roxas never turned him away. But, he never said a word, either.

_I asked his friends why. They all said something different. Or nothing at all._

"Why Roxas doesn't talk? Oh, that's easy! It's because he was beaten up when he was little!" -- Selphie

"You know that's not right, Selphie! It's because his older brother, Cloud, died when he was younger!!" -- Tidus

"Tidus, I am not a necrophiliac. Anyway, it is not my place to say, Axel. I'm sorry." -- Leon

"He'll tell you when he's ready." -- Cloud

"It's none of your business!!" -- Sora

_I decided to ask Roxas_.

They had been staring silently at each for the past five minutes – ever since Axel had asked that cursed question. Shock-filled blue orbs conversed with curious – and what was that other emotion? - emerald ones. Did he hate Axel now because he had dared to ask? Absolute terror sent chills dancing down his spine. What if Roxas wouldn't allow those gentle touches Axel offered? What if he ignored him all together? He didn't want to think about it at all. It brought too much dread and fear into his heart.

But then he heard it.

And, he thought, it was the single most beautiful sound he'd ever heard.

Thin arms hesitantly wrapped around the boy's lithe frame, tattooed features burying themselves in his spiked blonde hair as Roxas broke down, sobbing and whimpering and whispering two words that engraved themselves into Axel's memory. The blonde's lips were still mouthing the words, even when the taller covered them with his own.

"Thank you..."

_He told me why that night._

"... When... When we were younger... for about a year... Cloud and I, we lived in with our aunt and uncle... And I hated them. They... They would treat Cloud... as if... as if he was the greatest thing ever. But me... Some nights, I was... forced to sleep outside. They would... lock me out. Forget I exist. And... sometimes... they wouldn't allow me to eat... Not even... when I did exactly as they asked... When I would try to speak... They would hit me... And tell me to shut up... They told me that it... that it was completely and utterly useless... for me to even attempt to vocalize my thoughts... that my voice was annoying and made them feel like... like they wanted to claw their ears off. I... kept trying... but they yelled and screamed and told me to shut up and that I wasn't worth anything and that I only caused trouble for them... _so many times_... that I believed them. And... I shut up."

"Oh my God... Roxie..."

_I never expected to fall in love. But I don't regret it for a minute._

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Love it? Hate it? Want to kill it? Want to worship it? Tell me! I like to know these things!!  



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